138 Hunting Trips of a Ranchman 



kinds very often have, when full-grown, more than 

 the normal number of ten points; sometimes these 

 many-pronged antlers will be merely deformities, 

 while in other instances the points are more sym- 

 metrical, and add greatly to the beauty and grandeur 

 of the head. The venison of the black-tail is said 

 to be inferior in quality to that of the white-tail; 

 but I have never been able to detect much difference, 

 though, perhaps, on the whole, the latter is slightly 

 better. 



The gaits of the two animals are widely different. 

 The white-tail runs at a rolling gallop, striking the 

 ground with the forward feet first, the head held 

 forward. The black-tail, on the contrary, holds its 

 head higher up, and progresses by a series of pro- 

 digious bounds, striking the earth with all four feet 

 at once, the legs held nearly stiff. It seems like an 

 extraordinary method of running; and the violent 

 exertion tires the deer sooner than does the more 

 easy and natural gait of the white-tail; but for a 

 mile or so these rapidly succeeding bounds enable 

 the black-tail to get over the ground at remarkable 

 speed. Over rough ground, along precipitous slopes, 

 and among the bowlders of rocky cliffs, it will go 

 with surprising rapidity and surefootedness, only 

 surpassed by the feats of the big-horn in similar lo- 

 calities, and not equaled by those of any other plains 

 game. 



One of the noticeable things in Western plains 

 hunting is the different zones or bands of territory 

 inhabited by different kinds of game. Along the al- 



